Best Non-Big Four Offensive Season Since 1967 Expansion - #13

[DitchMarner]

Since the '67 expansion, what season is the 13th best offensive season by a non-Big Four (Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr, Howe) player?

People generally think of points scored when they think of "offense," but really, you can consider things like scoring chance generation, effective neutral zone transition game, effective forechecking that causes turnovers, good puck possession in the offensive zone to be part of a player's offensive game.

Things like back checking, defensive play and positioning, shot blocking, body checking to knock players off the puck outside of the attacking zone are irrelevant here. These are things to consider when voting in the best two-way seasons since 1967 polls series.


Results:

#1. Connor McDavid 2023 (54.5%)
#2. Connor McDavid 2021 (50%)
#3. Jaromir Jagr 1999 (44.4%)
#4. Steve Yzerman 1989 (32.1%)
#5. Phil Esposito 1971 (31.4%)
#6. Alex Ovechkin 2008 (35.4%)
#7. Nikita Kucherov 2024 (31.6%)
#8. Evgeni Malkin 2012 (won run-off against Jagr '96 and MacKinnon '24)
#9. Jaromir Jagr 1996 (31.6%)
#10. Brett Hull 1991 (40%)
#11. Guy Lafleur 1977 (45.5%)
#12. Nathan MacKinnon 2024 (35.7%)

Click to read more...

 

[DitchMarner]

At this point Nicholls '89, Sakic '01, Jagr and Thornton '06, Crosby '14, Kane '16, Kucherov '19 and Draisaitl '20 stand out for me (McDavid '24 has a strong argument if you consider playoffs).

 

[amnesiac]

Sakic 01

54G 118P in a low scoring 5.52 GPG league avg

adjusted to today.... 6.22/5.52 = 61G 133P

 

[Video Nasty]

Thornton.

Until McDavid hit 100 assists, shortly followed by Kucherov, only four players ever had more than the 96 assists he dished out.

His 125 points stood as the most of the 21st century for 18 years from 2000-2001 through 2017-2018. Considering it was more than the 1999-2000 season and Kucherov didn’t eclipse 125 until the end of the 2018-2019 season, Thornton’s 125 was the high for 20 years overall.

Take away his 29 goals and he would have still finished in the top 10 in scoring (9th).

San Jose immediately ended a 10 game losing streak they had been on the moment he arrived and they finished the season 36-15-7 while piled up he 72 assists and 92 points in those 58 games, and one of the strongest Hart campaigns of the century.

Despite not playing San Jose’s first 24 games, he finished just one point off of the team’s scoring lead.

San Jose scored 62 goals in 24 games before his arrival (2.58 GPG). They scored 204 goals in the 58 games he played for them (3.52 GPG). His impact was obvious and immediate. Possibly his greatest feat was assisting on 39 of the 49 goals Cheechoo scored after Thornton joined the team.

Not so sure what happened over the years to have this one pushed into the background more and more.

 

[amnesiac]

Thornton.

Until McDavid hit 100 assists, shortly followed by Kucherov, only four players ever had more than the 96 assists he dished out.

His 125 points stood as the most of the 21st century for 18 years from 2000-2001 through 2017-2018. Considering it was more than the 1999-2000 season and Kucherov didn’t eclipse 125 until the end of the 2018-2019 season, Thornton’s 125 was the high for 20 years overall.

Take away his 29 goals and he would have still finished in the top 10 in scoring (9th).

San Jose immediately ended a 10 game losing streak they had been on the moment he arrived and they finished the season 36-15-7 while piled up he 72 assists and 92 points in those 58 games, and one of the strongest Hart campaigns of the century.

Despite not playing San Jose’s first 24 games, he finished just one point off of the team’s scoring lead.

San Jose scored 62 goals in 24 games before his arrival (2.58 GPG). They scored 204 goals in the 58 games he played for them (3.52 GPG). His impact was obvious and immediate. Possibly his greatest feat was assisting on 39 of the 49 goals Cheechoo scored after Thornton joined the team.

Not so sure what happened over the years to have this one pushed into the background more and more.

05-06 was the PP riddled season after the lockout when they were cracking down on all the clutch and grab.

GPG avg went from 5.14 in 03-04 to 6.16 in 05-06.... it wasnt that high again until 21-22

impressive season nonetheless, but everyones number were inflated.

 

[Video Nasty]

05-06 was the PP riddled season after the lockout when they were cracking down on all the clutch and grab.

GPG avg went from 5.14 in 03-04 to 6.16 in 05-06.... it wasnt that high again until 21-22

impressive season nonetheless, but everyones number were inflated.

You and I voted for this Thornton season in the last round. What changed for you in two days?

By the way, not an enormous difference, but you’re using averages without shootout goals versus averages with shootout goals. I believe 2005-2006 was 6.05.

 

[amnesiac]

You and I voted for this Thornton season in the last round. What changed for you in two days?

By the way, not an enormous difference, but you’re using averages without shootout goals versus averages with shootout goals. I believe 2005-2006 was 6.05.

I honestly probably misclicked... Thornton's definitely one of the next ones, but was just pointing out the fact that it was 05-06